Chariots of Fire

Mario: What scale, Please!?

Nice job on the engine! You might want to consider a heavier frame under the Chevy given the load it will be required to carry. Perhaps make it straight toward the back since you have to extend it anyway. Just a thought.?

Necessity breeds function sometimes. It all started in the northeast following an international financier's trip to the UK and seeing large diameter hose in use for the first time. He brought the idea to the US and applied it to his own use. He built his own fire department as a mutual aid department and training center to small towns that needed help. So the idea of large diameter hose and a means to lay an above ground water supply took shape. His name was Donald Holbrook and he wrote a book called "The Unlikely Firemaster". This was back in the early 1960's and before the time of what we now know as EMS.

The body is a resin casting. blended into the kit cab.

I did this one a number of years ago based on photos of the real rig. Not a lot to say about it. Just a fun build before the days of my ALPS printer. Wish I had taken more photos before it was delivered to its new owner.

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LLLLOOOOOOOOOONNNG ago the D8 was the biggest dozer around. Any construction outfit that has one of those had one of the big boys. Now it is just dwarfed by what is out there in the mining industry. A family friend had a D2 back in the 50's and did a lot of work with it.

I think I'll stick with the Tamiya basic even if it does take a bit longer to set. It seems to be a real good filler and sets up hard. I've got some Squadron gray but don't like it because it does shrink like crazy and another called Clear Plastic white. The latter is very chalky in consistency even when sanded. Next time at the LHS it will be Tamiya basic gray. Agree, Bill Geary. The gray does seem to have some aluminum in it. Sort of reflects when it's sanded.

Trucks like this became popular here in the northeast where water supplies are difficult to come by in rural areas. The thought behind these rigs was to lay out 1000 feet of large diameter hose (4" or 5"), have a big pump at the source of water and relay the water through the hose to the mini. The mini was pass it on if needed to the next mini or to where ever the water was needed. An early attempt at scratch building and long before the introduction of the ALPS printer! The step in the rear folds down at the ends, allowing a firefighter to stand and use his foot to control the bar at the step. This engaged a small electric motor that was connected via gearing to the large gear on the side of the hose reel, allowing the hose to be picked up quickly after use. The vertical tubes kept the heavy couplings from hanging up on the sides of the body. I used folded masking tape to make the hose.

A fun project to update a 1950 Chevy pickup into something a little more modern. I took the front end from a 1999 Chevy and blended it into the front of the '50 taking out some of the horizontal grill bars. Kept the hood clean in front, extended the cab and added a custom box and dualie rear tires. The suburban on the right is based on a 1949 Chevy that my father had and which he used for his land surveying business. He had special graphics painted on the doors. At the time the photo was taken I was still working on the gooseneck trailer. The pickup has a small 5th wheel in the bed.

We watched many of those Morse shows. Great stuff! Both of him when he was first beginning and then afterward in his older role. We have a lot of the shows on CD now.

That's some great scratch building to enhance a good looking kit. Thanks for sharing your techniques.

I've been using Squadron green putty for a long time. Liked it up until they stopped making it. Switched to Tamiya basic and I like it only that it takes longer to set up. What do you use and why do you like it?

Keep it here. Bigger than pickup size. The cabs were the same for both p/u and larger vehicles. Only thing that changed really were the fenders. Will be checking in to see how you make progress!

Using just resin to make an axle will end in failure because it tends to sag or warp with time and a bit of pressure. At least it needs some reinforcement such as a metal rod of brass or aluminum embedded in the resin to keep it straight. An axle can be made using an original as a master and making a two part mold for it. Casting resin can be poured with the reinforcement in place. Once set, the resin axle should be fine. I've done this a number of times using brass tubing as the reinforcement. The tubing allows you to insert a smaller piece inside as part of the wheel. This is a rear axle with brass tubing inserted. On the right is the wheel hub that will be drilled out for a bushing that will fit over the brass axle extension.

Wanna get really wild? Use a zip tie to replicate the ring gear on the turntable bearing.?

Carl: All it had was the cowl, radiator and a seat. The rest of the body was gone, no fenders. I took the hood off from time to time. It was what we called a "jalopy" to run around the back woods in. We made our own roads, had a lot of fun. It growled in second gear and would pop out of second all by itself. If you tried and hold it in second it would break your arm!

Can you show us a photo of your mold? Also what kind of resin are you using?

1928 Model A Ford when I was 14 years old. (1954)☺️

My BAD, Scott! It's the Moebius Prostar that has the same cab. I tried giving you information without checking on what I had in the stash!?

I have a couple of old dissecting needles on long wood handles. A drop of glue is all you get. When it begins to build up I just scrape the excess away.

Hey, Greg: That grill in the diecast looks like it is easy enough to cast but if that fails, try using some plastic strip stock for the horizontal pieces, fill in with other pieces for the outside.

The closest thing to that particular rig is the Trumpeter Lonestar but the hood is all wrong. Cab is the same but there would be significant amount of scratch building necessary to do one up. Great looking rig though and one that sort of whets my appetite!

Finished up the project with radio and speaker in the cab and a whip antenna on the outside. It's now ready to go catch some bad guys.

that's a good looking combination. The semi-gloss black against the gloss black sets it off great. Nice Work!